A run ‘n gun filmmaker’s POV on the business and creative world of new media and web tv

The Hayley Project: Day 1

June 20, 2007

This past weekend we began production on The Hayley Project. Our crew comprised two enthusiastic and great PAs Eric, Meghan, and Jato’s brother Zamar, our associate producers Paolo and Dave, myself and Jato, my co-director/co-writer and DP.

Day 1 – Friday. We shot most of our day interior in some Columbia Housing uptown. We had planned to film until 2PM and then take a break until 6, but we ended up shooting all the way through. This was the first big sign that we had overestimated how quickly we would move through the shoot. It took me a second to realize that I needed to put aside my pure run ‘n gun mentality and start to focus on quality. My partner is determined to make a nice-looking series, and I’m glad that he pushes me to do the same. Our actors are great and have great attitudes. Because the series focuses on college-aged students, most of the actors are in their early twenties. Our lead actress actually filmed a MTV/Target commercial recently, which pushed our shoot dates back. Coming off two 15-hour days was probably tough for her. But she came in and gave it her all. Supposedly, her commercial premieres sometime when the new season of the Hills comes on.

Later that day, we took our actresses to the Brooklyn promenade to shoot a sunset scene. Our goal was to shoot a flashback where we would see two high school seniors bonding with one another, as they talk about their future and prepare to take the world by storm. A sunset by the NY skyline sounded wonderful and Jato had recommended the location. Two problems though. First, the sun didn’t cooperate, and we had miscalculated the angle we were at. So rather than have a beautiful sunset next to the skyline around Wall Street, the sun ducked behind the skyline. The second big problem was sound. The location was near a highway or something, and it was freaking loud all the way through. Looking back, we should have planned this shot out better. However, it’s in the can and we’ll make what we can of it. Worst case scenario, we can reshoot the scene. Overall, I felt good that we were underway after the first day, but I was concerned at the speed we were moving at.